One of the first filmmakers I interviewed was Michael Budd, who was in post production for his feature film Love of My Life. Very proud to announce the premiere is on April 11th in Sydney! Michael, you have The Art of Perseverance.

Walk the red carpet with Director Michael Budd as he brings his gritty Romance /Horror/Thriller, Love of my Life to the Chauvel Cinema, Paddington in an Australian first.

The Director/ Producer will be holding a Q&A along with the lead actor Diarmid Heidenreich. They will be talking about the many adversities they faced in getting the film made before and during production. “Love of my Life” has been huge in Germany and the USA, through VOD and DVD releases.

This is a one night only opportunity in Sydney, Celebrating the Red Carpet Premier, all public welcomed. Film title: Love of my Life Romance /Horror/Thriller A young man is held captive by a deranged surgeon and given the choice of surviving five days of torture to save the life of the woman he loves, or to order her killed and be set free.

Director: Michael Budd
(The Matrix Reloaded) (The Cold Light of Day)

CAST:Peter O’Brien (II)
Nominated, AFI Award Best Actor in a Leading Role Won, Silver Logie Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series . Won Silver Logie Most Popular Actor for Neighbours

Paul Willey trained as a lawyer initially, before joining one of the UK’s largest Broadcast Post Production Groups, VTR Plc in 2000 (now Prime Focus World).

As Soundfirm’s General Manager, Paul is responsible for the smooth running and commercial development of their studios in Sydney, Australia: a 16,000 sq ft sound and picture post production facility on the Fox Studios lot. He works closely with Soundfirm’s teams in Melbourne and Beijing to deliver creative and technical solutions to the Feature Film and Broadcast Media markets.

Paul also advises clients on post production offsets, deficit funding in post, and International co-productions; and is able to draw together resources and partnerships in London, Mumbai, Beijing, and New York to serve the creative and commercial aspirations of Film-makers and Producers.

John Eales is one of Australia’s all-time rugby greats. He took part in two successful World Cup campaigns; captained the Wallabies in memorable victories including the 1999 World Cup; led Australia through four successive Bledisloe Cup wins and two successful seasons of Tri-Nations fixtures. He also led the Wallabies to the first-ever defeat of the British and Irish Lions.
But John Eales is a man whose outstanding qualities extend much further than his exceptional skill on the football field. He is an inspirational leader and business man through both his actions and his relentless determination. John’s sense of fair play and genial nature made him one of the most respected figures in the game, and an extraordinary ambassador for sport and Australia.

Set in the 1950s, The Dressmaker is a bittersweet comedy about a glamorous young woman who returns, after many years in Europe, to her small home town in rural Australia in order to right some wrongs from the past. When Tilly (played by Kate Winslet) comes home, she not only reconciles with her ailing mother Molly (played by Judy Davis) but, with her sewing machine, and haute couture style, transforms the women of the town in such a way that she gets sweet revenge on those who did her wrong. She also falls unexpectedly in love, which leads to her greatest loss and her most destructive deed.
Written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker brings together a highly acclaimed cast and filmmaking team.

In a Turkish headquarters the world’s top earthworm scientists concoct a plan to find and name their ultimate discovery. Nothing will stop them as they travel to all corners of the world with spades, GPS worm locators and secret worm outing fluids to unearth their prize. But love turns savage when things don’t go to plan and the worm gets the upper hand. An epic adventure into an underground science and an unstoppable passion.

In a dark underworld of dirty deeds, vile slime and deadly pollution, scientists are exposing an animal that could help save our challenged planet – the humble earthworm. So what can it tell us about earth’s geographic evolution? Can it reverse the earth’s infertile hot spots? Can it really cure cancer? Is it the answer to toxic waste? In 2009/2010 The Worm Hunters go underground to find answers. Armed with spades, GPS worm locators, secret ‘worm ousting’ fluids, back-hoes and worm evacuators our somewhat oddball, but dedicated, scientists literally search ‘high and low’ for the world’s first Super Worm.

Deb Verhoeven is Professor and Chair of Media and Communication at Deakin University and Deputy Director of the Centre for Memory, Imagination and Invention. Until 2011 she held the role of Director of the AFI Research Collection at RMIT University. A writer, broadcaster, film critic and commentator, Verhoeven is the author of more than 50 journal articles and book chapters. Her most recent book is Jane Campion published in 2009 by Routledge, a detailed case study of the commercial and cultural role of the auteur in the contemporary film industry.

Verhoeven’s principal research interest lies in extending the limits of conventional film studies; exploring the intersection between cinema studies and other disciplines such as history, information management, geo-spatial science, statistics, urban studies and economics. This work has evolved through a wide range of scholarly and community collaborations.

She is the Director of the Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI) project, a national linked data initiative that will unite and unlock Australia’s cultural datasets. The project is funded by NeCTAR (National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources) unil mid 2014. She is also the Project Lead for Research My World a aprtnership with pozible.com to crowdfund Australian research.

A former CEO of the Australian Film Institute, Professor Verhoeven is a member of the Australian Film Critics Association, the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI), an Honorary Life Member of Women in Film and Television (WIFT), an executive member of the International Cinema Audiences Research Group (ICARG), and a founding member of the Screen Economics Research Group (SERG). As a film critic Verhoeven is a regular critical contributor to various programs on ABC Radio National and appeared fortnightly on the high rating Jon Faine program on ABC Local Radio for 7 years. She was film critic for The Melbourne Times for 6 years and ran film programs on various public radio stations around Melbourne for many years prior to this.

Deb Verhoeven has an active role in film publishing. Until 2012 was Chair of the widely read film journal Senses of Cinema and was Editor for the journal Studies in Australasian Cinema (Intellect) in 2009/10.

54 Days is an Independent Feature Film that explores how we would react to a situation where our very survival is at stake.
If you were trapped with a group of people, with food and water running out rapidly how would deal with the impossible situation where “either one of you dies or you all die”.
What would you do?
How do you decide?
It’s a decision none of us would want to face … but people have faced this situation.

During the writing process, 54 Days was heavily researched. Not only did we explore the canon of survival films but also real life examples of where individuals and groups have had to face the impossible decision of sacrifice and self-sacrifice when a group’s very survival was at stake. It was painful reading at times but in order for 54 Days to have truth in its story – truth, and horrible truth at times, needed to be examined.

The survival instinct is strong – REAL STRONG! – and it becomes stronger as we come face to face with our own mortality. It is only here that our true character reveals itself… Its only here we really see who we truly are…

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What is The Art of Perseverance?

It's a project that studies how filmmakers in Australia persevere during the process from development through funding, production, marketing and distribution and beyond.

The average film takes seven years to make. That's a lot of perseverance.

Over 40 (and counting) of Australia's top filmmakers and industry experts have been interviewed as to how they persevered in creating their film.

These insights are being passed onto the industry at large in the hope it inspires current and future filmmakers in Australia.

The documentary and eBook will be out in 2015 accompanied by a educational outreach program, and screening tour.

This website acts as a blog, a resource and as a forum for professional and emerging filmmakers, as well as industry professionals and in-fact anyone interested in entrepreneurialism, filmmaking and perseverance.